“No.” Hannah wedged her foot into the crack. “It’s important, Danielle. Is Boyd home?”

“No, he’s not. He’s got…football practice…at the school.”

“Good. That’ll give us some time alone. We have to talk, Danielle.”

“But I…I have to put on some makeup. I was just…uh…taking a nap and…” Danielle’s voice trailed off and she gave a little sob. “Please, Hannah. I don’t want you to see me like this.”

Hannah made one of her instant decisions. Right or wrong, she was coming in. Never one to dither once she’d made up her mind, she simply pushed Danielle back and stepped inside.

“Oh, Hannah!” Danielle’s hands flew up to her face, but not before Hannah had spotted her black eye and the red welts in the shape of a handprint across her left cheek.

“Good God, Danielle!” Hannah reached out to shut the door. “What happened to you?”

“I…uh…I—”

“Never mind,” Hannah interrupted what was bound to be some sort of hastily fabricated story. “Come on. Let’s get some ice on your face.”

“I don’t have any.”

“I’ll find something.” Hannah took her arm and led her into the kitchen. “Are you sure he’s not coming back?”

Danielle managed to look even more embarrassed. “Who? The…intruder?”

“Your husband.” Hannah opened the freezer and rummaged around for something that would work as an ice pack. “You don’t have to pretend with me, Danielle. I know he beat you up.”

“How do you know that?”

One of Danielle’s eyes opened wide in surprise, but the other was almost swollen shut. Hannah drew out a package of frozen peas, whacked it against the counter to loosen the contents, and handed it to her, along with the kitchen towel that was draped over the handle of the stove. “Sit down at the table. Wrap the peas in the towel and hold it up to your eye. I’ll get another one for your cheek.”

“Thank you, Hannah.” Danielle sank down in a chair. “This is all my fault. I forgot to fill up the ice trays.”

Hannah pulled out another package of frozen peas and wrapped it in a clean towel from the drawer. She held it up to Danielle’s cheek and sighed deeply. “It’s not your fault. Hold that with your other hand and tell me where you keep the coffee.”

“I don’t have any. I ran out and I forgot to buy more. That’s why Boyd got so mad at me.”

Hannah bristled. There had been a couple of mornings when she thought she might kill for a cup of coffee, but she hadn’t really meant it literally. “How about tea?”

“I’ve got some instant. It’s in the cupboard over the stove. And there’s a hot water spigot on our Sparklettes dispenser.”

Hannah found two cups, spooned in instant tea and a generous helping of sugar, and filled them with steaming water from the dispenser. She carried one over to Danielle and set hers down on the other side of the table. Hannah didn’t like tea, but that didn’t matter. Sharing tea gave them a common bond. “Let me look at your cheek.”